I DIDN’T think I would ever come to say this but the old adage ‘home sweet home’ is not proving to be true for us this season. During our magical, mystery journey through the lower reaches of non-league football, one constant has been very solid home form. Teams have travelled to face us with damage limitation in mind before even kicking off. There’s been loses but they’ve been few and far between. This season, a trip to face Darlo doesn’t seem to hold the same fear factor as it once did.

After two really positive away performances, we came back down to earth with a bump thanks to our fifth defeat of the season on ‘home’ turf, three of which have come in our first five games at Blackwell Meadows. To say I’m disappointed with the defeat would be a bit of an understatement. Harrogate Town didn’t look like a top team. They looked like a pretty average, mid-table side that we should really be beating in front of our own fans.

Of course, the game turned on the dismissal of Leon Scott for what can only be described as a rash lunge. While fans were happy to defend him as the game continued, I don’t think anyone could advocate in his favour after watching the video footage, despite a late contender from Lloyd Kerry for the Best Actor award at Sunday’s Oscars. I’m sure Leon will be disappointed with himself but despite being down to ten men, Harrogate’s goals came from some characteristic poor defending from us.

The frustrating thing is that, despite being at a numerical disadvantage, we could have secured a point – maybe even three. While Harrogate had their fair share of possession, we seemed to cope pretty well and we gave them more than enough to think about. Yet, just when you think we’ve got a handle on things, we concede. That seems to have happened an awful lot this season. I suspect a marriage of poor concentration and the quality of opponents to take advantage might just be our doing this season. While the playoffs are still tantalisingly close, we simple don’t seem to be able to put a run of form together to bridge the gap.

It probably sounds a bit melodramatic, but the next three games will go a long way to make or break our season. In Altrincham and Stalybridge Celtic, we play the two sides well adrift at the bottom of the league while in Worcester City, we play a side whose form has imploded since their playing budget was rationalised with a number of their better players subsequently leaving. These are three games made for a team in our position looking to find form to mount a playoff push. Without wishing to pile pressure on the team, they are games we should be winning. If we fail to secure nine points from these games, making the playoffs becomes even harder than it already is.

On a positive note, it was great to see another fine performance from Stephen Thompson on Saturday. Allowing him to play a little higher up the pitch in a freer role is a good look for him. The way he took his goal was excellent. I’ll be honest, I was expecting an exocet of a shot from him but the finish he came up with was cute and sublime. It was also great to see Liam Hardy pop up to get his goal, even if it was in vein. Having enjoyed a very profitable month’s loan back at Buxton, hopefully, he will maintain that form and provide the clinical cutting edge we’ve occasionally lacked when desperately searching for a goal.